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Album Review – Crypts of Despair / We Belong In The Grave (2025)

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Lithuania’s most infernal band is back with their third album, offering more of the their fierce, ruthless and ball-bustingly fusion of Dissonant, Blackened and Brutal Death Metal.

Four years after their demolishing sophomore opus All Light Swallowed, Kaunas, Lithuania’s own Death Metal beast Crypts of Despair returns with their third full-length installment, entitled We Belong In The Grave. Mixed and mastered by Christian Donaldson, and displaying a funereal, grim artwork by Vainius “Anomaly” Česnauska, the new album by a now five-piece band formed of Jonas Kanevičius on vocals, Dovydas Auglys and Tautvydas Kartanas on the guitars, Simonas Jurkevičius on bass, and Henri Mäll on drums offers more of the their fierce, ruthless and ball-bustingly fusion of Dissonant, Blackened and Brutal Death Metal, being highly recommended for fans of Ulcerate, Replicant, Obscureviolence, Dead Congregation, and Saevus Finis, among several others.

The album kicks off with a beyond cryptic intro in We Belong In The Grave before Henri and Jonas decimate our ears ruthlessly armed with their demented drums and visceral roars, respectively, and after such a boisterous start it’s time to get even heavier and darker in Terminal Dais, with the riffage by Dovydas and Tautvydas sounding absolutely demolishing. Their brutality keeps flowing in Obliteration Of The Impure, where the band invites us all to headbang like demonic beasts nonstop; and their furious blend of Death Metal will hit us hard in the head in Expulsion To Purgatory, spearheaded by the vile, deep guttural by Jonas. Then we face Undisillusioned, which carries a poetic name for an unrelenting, no shenanigans Death Metal onrush by the best metal band ever from Lithuania. Needless to say, it will sound majestic during their live performances.

Seizures starts in a more obscure, atmospheric way thanks to the sluggish beats by Henri, while also presenting hints of Deathcore and Doom Metal added to its core essence. It’s absolutely heavy, despite never really taking off; and the band gets back on track in Precipitous, crushing our damned souls with their ruthless sounds, with Jonas barking like a rabid beast accompanied by the metallic riffs by Dovydas and Tautvydas. There’s still time for more heaviness and violence in the form of Gaze Of The Adversary, with Simonas blasting his bass alongside Henri and his pounding beats, all spiced up by Jonas’ deep gnarls and a beyond grim atmosphere, before the album ends with the epic instrumental outro Burial Of The World, dragging us all to absolute darkness together with the band for all eternity.

In a nutshell, We Belong In The Grave is a bold step ahead for Crypts of Despair, maintaining the band’s high standards while updating the sound for maximum impact and utter devastation, and you can put your damned hands on such an amazing album of extreme music made in Lithuania by purchasing it from their own BandCamp page, as well as from the Transcending Obscurity Records’ Bandcamp, main store, US store, or EU store. Don’t forget to also give the band a shout on Facebook and on Instagram, and to click HERE for all things Crypts of Despair, including their tour dates. As we all belong in the grave, Crypts of Despair definitely belong amongst the cream of the European Death Metal elite based on the high quality of the music found in their new album, carving their name in the scene worldwide and, consequently, leaving us eager for more Lithuanian brutality in a not-so-distant future.

Best moments of the album: Terminal Dais, Undisillusioned and Gaze Of The Adversary.

Worst moments of the album: Seizures.

Released in 2025 Transcending Obscurity Records

Track listing
1. We Belong In The Grave 5:05
2. Terminal Dais 4:29
3. Obliteration Of The Impure 4:24
4. Expulsion To Purgatory 4:19
5. Undisillusioned 3:48
6. Seizures 4:07
7. Precipitous 3:11
8. Gaze Of The Adversary 3:11
9. Burial Of The World 2:07

Band members
Jonas Kanevičius – vocals
Dovydas Auglys – guitars
Tautvydas Kartanas – guitars
Simonas Jurkevičius – bass
Henri Mäll – drums

Album Review – Crypts of Despair / All Light Swallowed (2021)

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Behold the breathtaking sophomore opus by a ruthless Death Metal unity from Lithuania, embodying the perfect combination of face-melting aggression and electrifying atmosphere.

3.5rating

crypts-of-despair-all-light swallowed-2021Formed in 2009 in Kaunas, a city in south-central Lithuania, the ruthless Death Metal band known as Crypts of Despair has made a quantum leap from their well-received debut full-length opus The Stench of the Earth, released in 2017, to their brand new one, entitled All Light Swallowed. Produced by the band itself, recorded at Lapės Records, mixed and engineered by Alexander Sarychev at DTH Studios, mastered by Arthur Rizk, and featuring a classic, somber artwork by Néstor Avalos, All Light Swallowed is at once ferocious, rife with unearthly and dissonant sounds, and punctuated by hair-raising, eerie ambience, embodying the perfect combination of face-melting aggression and electrifying atmosphere, with song structures remaining unpredictable and yet strangely coherent, all carefully brought into being by vocalist and guitarist Dovydas Auglys, guitarist Benas Juskus, bassist and vocalist Simonas Jurkevicius, and drummer Henri Mall. Put differently, if you’re an admirer of the music by bands the likes of Incantation, Anaal Nathrakh and Morbid Angel, this album is a must-have in your personal collection.

Get ready for total annihilation to the sound of the pulverizing opening track Being – Erased, a lecture in modern-day Death Metal led by the blast beast by Henri while Dovydas and Benas extract piercing, sulfurous Black Metal-inspired riffs from their guitars, and there’s no sign of slowing down as the quartet continues their path of devastation in Anguished Exhale, even more brutal and infernal than the opening tune with Dovydas and Simonas roaring manically nonstop. In Choked By The Void a cryptic start morphs into another visceral Death Metal feast led by the strident riffage by the band’s guitar duo, smashing our cranial skulls and dragging us into eternal darkness, and more of their furious sounds comes in the form of Condemned To Life, where Henri pounds and crushes his drums in great fashion, sounding very violent but at the same time technical and melodic and, therefore, resulting into sheer Death Metal awesomeness.

crypts-of-despair-all-light-swallowed-black-coffin-shaped-wooden-cd-box-set

Crypts of Despair All Light Swallowed Black Coffin-Shaped Wooden CD Box Set with Engraving

Living up to the legacy of renowned acts such as Incantation and Immolation, the quartet fires the visceral Synergy Of Suffering, once again presenting the dynamic (and bestial) vocal duet between Dovydas and Simonas, and if you thought those Lithuanian metallers couldn’t sound more demonic you better get ready for The Great End, a sinister, neck-breaking tune that blends their trademark Death Metal with Black Metal nuances. Then venturing through more obscure lands we’re treated to the venomous Disgust, a beautiful Death, Black and (even) Doom Metal creation by Crypts of Despair where the vocal lines sound and feel utterly satanic, not to mention the thunderous drums by Henri. Dovydas and Benas definitely know how to send shivers down our spines with their wicked riffs, generating a menacing ambience in Excruciating Weight, putting a grim smile on the faces of the damned and flowing into the Stygian instrumental outro Bleak View, sounding as if it was taken from the most horrifying psychological thriller you can imagine.

crypts-of-despair-2021It’s quite easy to put your hands on such amazing album of Baltic Death Metal, as All Light Swallowed (which you can by the way stream in its entirety on YouTube and on Spotify) is available for purchase from the band’s own BandCamp page, from Apple Music or from Amazon, but if I were you I would definitely go for the ass-kicking, limited Black Coffin-Shaped Wooden CD Box Set with Engraving by clicking HERE, HERE or HERE (depending on where in the world you are), containing an 8-panel digipak CD with sandalwood scent, an autographed card, a shaped silver sigil patch, a keychain with bottle opener, an album artwork badge, a beer coaster and a metallic sticker. Also, don’t forget to give the guys from Crypts of Despair a shout on Facebook and on Instagram, showing your support to such incredible band from the Baltics. And you better hurry, before all light is finally swallowed and you’re trapped in eternal Death Metal darkness.

Best moments of the album: Being – Erased, Condemned To Life and Disgust.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2021 Transcending Obscurity Records

Track listing   
1. Being – Erased 4:33
2. Anguished Exhale 4:13
3. Choked By The Void 5:17
4. Condemned To Life 3:27
5. Synergy Of Suffering 2:57
6. The Great End 5:32
7. Disgust 4:23
8. Excruciating Weight 3:57
9. Bleak View 3:37

Band members
Dovydas Auglys – vocals, guitar
Benas Juskus – guitar
Simonas Jurkevicius – bass, vocals
Henri Mall – drums

Album Review – Luctus / Užribis (2020)

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Are you ready to dive into the cold waters of the Beyond together with one of the meanest Black Metal hordes of the Lithuanian scene?

Formed in the already distant year of 2001 in Kaunas, the second largest city in Lithuania located in the south-central region of the country, by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Kommander L. as a one-man band, the incendiary Black Metal act that goes by the somber name of Luctus (a Latin words that means lamentation, mourning or grief) has evolved into one of the most important metal institutions of the Lithuanian scene through the years, becoming a mature and stable creature with a trademark sound that has already toured extensively across their homeland and all over Europe. Currently comprised of Kommander L. on vocals and bass, Šatras and Dovydas on the guitars, and Vytautas on drums, this talented “Nihil Black Metal” brigade is back in action after five long years with their long-awaited fourth album Užribis, or “The Beyond”, conceptually continuing the path taken by their 2015 album Ryšys while musically representing a further step in the search for the purity of sound and an emotional impact. Recorded at Lapės Records Studios in Lithuania, mixed and mastered at Necromorbus Studios in Sweden, and featuring a cryptic artwork by José Gabriel Alegría Sabogal (also known as Hathrul), Užribis is a spiritual journey through the obscure depths of the soul, breaking through any boundaries of social life in search of what the band calls the “Other World”. Having said that, are you ready to dive into the cold waters of the Beyond?

Just hit play and the ethereal and cryptic intro Gilyn (or “into the depth” in English) will embrace your damned soul and set the tone for the devastating and hellish Sušiurpintas Ano Pasaulio Nuostabos (“stunned by the awe-inspiring Other World”), with the entire band providing their welcome card through their infernal blast beats, scorching Black Metal riffs and vicious vociferations, not to mention the song’s disturbing, phantasmagorical vibe. And the slashing guitars by Šatras and Dovydas ignite the sulfurous Kas Tu Esi? (“who are you?”), a demonic display of old school Black Metal with Thrash and Death Metal nuances where Kommander L. rabidly barks the song’s lyrics (always in his mother tongue, by the way); then a disturbing beginning will darken the skies in the title-track Užribis (“the beyond”), before Vytautas begins hammering his drums furiously in a dense fusion of Black and Thrash Metal. Furthermore, Kommander L.’s vile roars get deeper and more demented as the music progresses, resulting in a lesson in Blackened Death Metal the likes of Behemoth and flowing like the fires of the underworld until its fulminating finale.

Už Sapno Ribų (“beyond the limits of the dream”) is another pulverizing blast of extreme sounds by Luctus led by the evil riffs and solos by both Šatras and Dovydas, once again living up to the legacy of crushing Blackened Death Metal, whereas the band’s rumbling bass lines and berserk beats dictate the rhythm in Tikėjimo Paslaptis (“the secret of faith”), filling our ears with sheer obscurity and blasphemy in the form of classic Black Metal, sounding and feeling truly reverberating and dense from start to finish. Then we have Liejasi (“merging”), an absolutely sinister tune showcasing cryptic passages, eerie background sounds and strident guitars, exploding into a demented feast of Black and Death Metal titled Vandens Paviršiumi (“skimming over the water”), one of the most detailed songs of the album, bringing to our ears multiple layers of darkness, hatred and fury piled up by the quartet, with Kommander L. taking the lead with his deep guttural roars and suddenly morphing into the cadaverous outro Fascinatio Mortis, as Stygian and grim as it can be, putting a cinematic ending to such detailed album.

The gates to the “Other World” ruled by Luctus are open thanks to the amazing job done by this sulfurous quartet in their new album Užribis, available for a full listen on YouTube and on Spotify. Hence, don’t forget to show your true support to those Lithuanian metallers by paying them a visit on Facebook and on Instagram, and especially by purchasing Užribis from their own BandCamp page or from the Inferna Profundus Records’ BandCamp page or webstore (in  CD or LP format), as well as from Apple Music or from Discogs. And then, but only then, after putting your hands on Užribis, you’ll be ready to cross the barriers of the Beyond together with one of the most prominent hordes from the Lithuanian scene.

Best moments of the album: Sušiurpintas Ano Pasaulio Nuostabos, Užribis and Vandens Paviršiumi.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2020 Inferna Profundus Records

Track listing
1. Gilyn 2:07
2. Sušiurpintas Ano Pasaulio Nuostabos 5:09
3. Kas Tu Esi? 7:06
4. Užribis 7:54
5. Už Sapno Ribų 7:40
6. Tikėjimo Paslaptis 6:45
7. Liejasi 2:39
8. Vandens Paviršiumi 7:11
9. Fascinatio Mortis 2:30

Band members
Kommander L. – vocals, bass
Šatras – guitars
Dovydas – guitars
Vytautas – drums